| This painting is a prayer in memory of my
friend and fellow artist Linda Brosio who died of AIDS in 1995 leaving
her husband and two children behind. I met Linda at an art opening featuring her beautiful and impressive photographs of family members and nature. We became friends in an instant . As I got to know her my admiration grew. She had a wonderful life: a handsome husband, two of the most beautiful children I'd ever seen, a nice house with horses in the back yard and an interesting career as art director in a commercial art firm. She shared freely with me what she knew about art and illlustration and showed me how to brave the streets of Manhattan to show my portfolio to art directors there. She and our mutual friend Tom X taught me how to "dance skate" on the pavement. In the few years that I knew her I got a glimpse of what it would like to be less shy and more fearless. When Linda learned that she was HIV positive she soon also learned that both of her children carried the virus. Miraculously her husband Gary was HIV negative. When Linda explained the illness to her children who were very young at the time, she called the virus "Hivie" . I did this painting which I entitled "Tickle Monster" as my interpretation of her Hivie. It is the image of a tigerlike, half harlequin monster holding symbols of creativity and movement while attempting to destroy her physically. The hourglass is emptying and has fallen from her hand. The image of the tiger monster was inspired by a mythological painting from India (which I discovered later on to be) in reference to the tiger riding goddess Durga. The depiction of the woman at one with the tiger monster was how Linda might have wanted it: to exit this world with a smile on her face. Bye Linda, I think I can see you skating up there. Linda's daughter, Alora Gale, has been living with AIDS since birth. She does outreach and public speaking engagements to help teens who carry the HIV virus cope with the multitude of issues that come up for them. More recently Alora's brother Mo has been reaching out in the same way, following the footsteps of his older sister. You can read more about their extraordinary lives by typing their names on a search engine. |